Varsity Wrestling: A Small But Tight-Knit Brotherhood

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The wrestling team at Marin Catholic is one of the school’s little-known gems. With not much publicity due to its small size, it hides in the shadows of the other larger sports. The Roar wanted to recognize the sport, so we caught up with some of the team to talk about how it has changed their high school experience and what advice they’d give to students who are thinking about joining the team.

The Roar: What made you want to become a part of the wrestling team?

Nick Beecher’19: I wanted to become part of the wrestling team because I wanted to play a sport here at MC. I had done martial arts in the past and I wanted to do something different for a sport. My relatives and family had wrestled before and they have told me that it is one of the best things you can do while in high school. I wanted to get stronger and fit, and wrestling was the best way to achieve my goal, and it did not matter that I didn’t know anything about the sport at first.

Michael Dolan’19 : I wanted to join it because I was told it was the hardest high school sport and I wanted to challenge myself.

Andy Barrientos’19:I joined the wrestling team for a couple of simple reasons that took me a long way. For one, I wanted to be fit, I wanted to better myself by becoming a physically strong person. Second, I wanted a challenge. I had heard that wrestling was the hardest high school sport so I wanted to see it for myself (and coming from experience, it really is), I wanted to challenge myself by pushing every limit I had. My third reason was that my older brother was a wrestler, and I wanted to become as strong as he was when he was in high school.

Jake Murphy’20: I wanted to join the wrestling team because of my MMA background and because of friends from other schools that were competing. I heard great things about the coach and the experience

The Roar:How has the sport affected your high school experience?

NB:Wrestling has affected my high school experience greatly. Wrestling can be a very hard sport sometimes, as wrestlers have to have a lot of stamina and strength to wrestle a match. Every ounce of energy is taken out of my teammates and I after every practice. As NCAA champ Dan Gable said, “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.” Wrestling makes me more focused especially with school. I feel more proud of myself for the things I have done this past wrestling season. I went from a freshman who didn’t know anything about wrestling to this year where I have an 18-7 record. I’ve learned more about myself as a person through wrestling.

MD: It gave me a whole new perspective on what hard work is and helped me to apply that kind of hard work to academics and things like that.

AB: I wanted to be a physically strong person, and not only did I meet that goal, but I met a mentally strong person in me that I had never met before. I wanted a challenge, and I met a side of me that just kept wanting more challenges, more training, more matches, and especially, more wins. And finally, I wanted to meet the strength my brother had, and I met what made me want to do so in the first place. Wrestling does what most sports can’t: It disciplines its athletes. Wrestling allowed me to meet reality, something that helps like nothing else can in school. This is what I saw in my brother and every other wrestler I have met. Wrestlers know that the fight is half the match, and the other half is what we can take from it. This sport gave me confidence, and we all know how important that is to have in high school.

JM: The sport has definitely taught me what it means to work hard. Every practice or tournament you had to dig deeper and deeper, even when you felt like you had nothing to give.

The Roar: What is the brotherhood like in wrestling? How does it change sport?

NB: Brotherhood is very strong among the wrestling team. This sport builds camaraderie like no other. We feel each other’s ups and downs, and we spend every day of the week with each other. We help each other achieve our goals. I’ve made numerous friends while on the wrestling team, and I know that they have my back.

MD: The brotherhood is unlike any other team at MC. It’s such a tightly knit group and you’re with them for two or three hours almost every day.

AB: The brotherhood wrestling creates is a strong one. We all have the same goal, we all understand the struggles and pain that comes from wrestling. This is key to having a strong team. What good is it to have teammates if you can’t relate with them? The main factor of victory in this sport is in the confidence you have in yourself, and this confidence is built from the help of your teammates.

JM: The brotherhood is awesome, everyone on the team is so tight and there to help each other because they all know what you’re going through, emotionally and physically. The senior on the team acted as a guide and the sophomores who had some wrestling experience did their best to warn me of rookie mistakes that they had also performed. I feel like I can talk to any of the people on the team about anything and that they’d be there. Having such a tight bond made every practice more fun and every tournament more intense with the whole team trying to act as coaches.

The Roar: What would you tell people looking to join the team or wanting to know more about the sport?

NB: Wrestling is the oldest, and most rewarding sport there is. There is nothing better than winning a match. It’s an indescribable feeling, and once it happens once, you just want the feeling to come back again. I have become stronger physically and mentally in my past two seasons of high school wrestling. Football players, baseball players, and many others at MC can benefit from wrestling in the winter. You don’t have to know anything about wrestling to begin. Trust me, I was there! Seeing the progress that you have made in one whole season is unbelievable. Wrestling in the winter will make you a better athlete in your other sports, without a doubt. “I would have all of my Offensive Linemen wrestle if I could” -John Madden.

MD: If you’re thinking about joining it’s the hardest, most rewarding sport you could possibly do.

AB: In the wrestling room, there is a quote on the wall that says “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life becomes easy.” To anyone interested, this quote speaks truth in volumes that go beyond the sense of the word. The biggest opponent in any fighting sport is yourself. This opponent changes and grows as you do. Wrestling is the sport that allows you to prove who is stronger.

JM: I would definitely recommend joining the wrestling team. You become physically and mentally tougher which is something you can carry with you your whole life. It’s the hardest thing that I’ve ever done, but it’s also the most fun. The sport is violent and demanding and injuries do happen. I’ve gotten injured this year already and it really hurts the whole team. The most important part to know is that you have a coach and a community you can rely on. Coach Feder has everything down to a perfect science and it’s all for the best. It’s the best part of your high school experience.

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Talynne Confar, a freshman at Marin Catholic, is a member of the Newspaper. She is a member of the volleyball team and is going out for softball in the spring. She is also a member of Ukulele Club, Culinar...